As soon as Amber crossed the threshold into Astrid's home, and family, she brought with her a new sense of hope and a cure of her new foster mother's insomnia.

The transition was seamless, it didn't take long for the pair of them to feel as though their current situation had always been. There was no hesitation or awkwardness; only acceptance and happiness filled the few walls that Astrid's flat possessed. In no time at all they found themselves in a routine where they manoeuvred around each other with ease.

One important thing that Astrid wanted to sort out was setting up a special place within her flat, where Amber could sleep and be able to have privacy whenever she needed it. A room that she can call her own. The social worker made it clear to Astrid that she must provide such a space with the basics included - a bed, a pillow and a place to put her things. However, Astrid wanted to give her so much more than just the "basics". She wanted Amber to finally feel at home not just under another roof.

On a quiet evening, they sat down and planned exactly how the room would look. Astrid, being the art enthusiast that she was, encouraged Amber to be as creative as she wished to be. She was delighted to find that Amber was willing to fully submerge herself into this project and let her ideas run free.

It was decided that the room would have an enchanted forest theme and they worked together over a week to achieve just that. They painted a forest scene on a free wall, hung fairy-lights and draped jade silk across the window. They also arranged a white, mosquito net on a bracket attached to the ceiling. The gentle material cascaded down softly around a brand new single bed, which Astrid happily kitted out with bed sheets that were decorated with an elegant floral pattern in greens and golds.

When they were done, the room looked like a scene straight out of a fairy-tale and Amber's eyes lit up in wonder at their efforts.

"It looks just like a place from my dreams," Amber whispered in awe.

A tear came to Astrid's eye, for she was thinking the exact same thing.

One Tuesday evening Astrid and Amber sat at the dinner table, enjoying each other's company and Astrid's home cooking. Now that she was a mother, she felt that she should start working out of the recipe book that James gave her, rather than buying takeaway and microwaveable meals - the way she did when she was living alone. They both tucked into the chicken stew and dumplings that Astrid tried her best to put together; she hadn't managed to present it well on either of the plates but it tasted delicious all the same and it put a contented smile on Amber's face.

"So, how was school for you today?" Astrid asked her rehearsed dinner-time question.

"It was okay," Amber shrugged and looked up from her plate. "How was school for you?" she asked in return, imitating Astrid's voice to the best of her ability.

"Ah, same old, school stuff. How're you finding Mr Winters?"

"He's alright. He's got us doing portraits," Amber answered before taking another mouthful of stew.

"Ooh brilliant! I love doing portraits!" Astrid's response was met by a look that was far from a reflection of her own enthusiasm, which made her want to change tact. "How are you finding that then?"

"I don't know really. Nothing I seem to put on paper really impresses anybody, especially Mr Winters!" Amber mumbled whilst staring onto her half-emptied plate.

"I see, would you like any help with that? I would be more than happy to give you some pointers," Astrid offered, expecting to receive a swift decline, but instead, she received an eager nod, which was a pleasant surprise.

After they cleared the table and washed up, they went up to Astrid's bedroom and found the equipment they needed to start sketching a portrait. Astrid attached a clean white sheet of paper onto her easel and handed Amber a tin that contained a variety of sketching pencils and a rubber (just in case).

"Now, is it a self portrait you want to do?" Astrid asked to help get the ball rolling and to end the awkward silence that was slowly taking over the room.

"Erm, I guess..." Amber said, with a non-committal shrug.

"Right, hang on, I'll bring my mirror over." Astrid then leapt across her room, grabbed her standing mirror and clumsily waltzed her way back again with it as her unusual dance partner. She set it up in the perfect place for Amber to study her features with ease as she stood in front of her work station.

Astrid encouraged her to start, helping her to map out the various elements that she needed within the portrait- making a rough sketch of where each eye needed to be placed, how long the nose and how wide the mouth should be.

"Making a rough sketch at first works well as a foundation to your drawing, then you can build on the detail and personalise it as you see fit," Astrid said in her best teacher-voice.

"Man, I wish I had you for art, you make way more sense than Mr Winters!" Amber announced with a smile.

"Ah, you would get sick of the sight of me, if I was your teacher as well as your mum." Astrid responded without thinking of the implications of her words.

"Mum?" Amber stopped, her pencil hovering over the paper as if someone had hit "pause".

"Oh, I'm sorry, we haven't discussed..."

"No, it's okay." Amber turned and smiled up at Astrid's panicked face, "Mum."

Astrid's heart melted at that moment and the warmth in her chest caused the panic that she felt to evaporate.

With a new sense of energy they carried on working together, slowly creating a masterpiece. Once the project came to a natural end, Amber stepped back and scrutinised what was displayed. She twisted her head to the side and pulled her eyebrows into a puzzled scowl.

"So, what do you think?" Astrid asked, putting a gentle hand on the tween's shoulder.

"Hmm, I think it looks like me..." Amber replied with a touch of doubt in her tone.

"I think it looks great. You've done a fabulous job."

"It certainly is better than what I've managed to draw before," Amber said with a shrug. "Do you paint portraits a lot?" she asked, before any awkward silence managed to creep in. She carefully started to put away the pencils that she used back inside their tin as she waited for an answer.

"I don't know about "a lot" but I have done some here and there. I have a few stored up somewhere. You are welcome to dig through any of my art boxes if you want to have a look." Astrid replied pointing at the number of plastic boxes piled up in the corner of her room. Amber glanced over and her eyes widened. The look of bewilderment on her face shook Astrid into action.

"Okay, let's see." She searched through the pile of boxes and one box in particular caught her eye. "Ah! Here we are, my college portfolio stuff! There are definitely a few portraits in there." She placed the box into Amber's extended hands and the young redhead gripped it underneath its closed lid.

"Take that through to your room, I won't need it."

"Cool, thanks," Amber said as she analysed the boxes contents through its see-through sides.

"Of course, you don't have to..." Astrid reassured her. She realised how full on she might have been in the last few minutes.

"No, no, I want to," Amber said with a smile as she headed towards the door. "Thanks, Mum."